Weux082690

Khriss's essay on Roshar in AU states that the gas giants are difficult (or impossible. I don't know the exact wording as I'm away from my copy.) to access from the Cognitive Realm as they are uninhabited. I doubt any expanse corresponds to the gas giants.

I agree with you that the Scar might be the stars around Yolen which got messed up by the Shattering. I don't agree on the process. Threnody, which has a red star as FiveLate mentioned, is also difficult to get to according to Khriss in AU. I think it is safe to say that whatever made the stars in the Scar red likely made it difficult to travel there too. Since you've given good evidence that Yolen still exists and is still inhabited yet isn't accessible, I think it's a good candidate for one of the planets in the Scar. Threnody is also where Odium mortally wounded the Shard Ambition (though it was Shattered elsewhere). The Scar could be the remnant of a battle that happened between Adonalsium and the people who helped Shatter it, as in, they had to mortally wound God before the Shattering could take place. I imagine if you hold the power of creation, you don't like the idea of people taking that away from you.

It seems (part of) this theory has been confirmed with a recent WoB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/314-salt-lake-city-signing/#e8920

Reading through this reminded me of a WoB that seemed relavant. When looking for it I found another one along the same lines. Though not conclusive, these suggest to me that Shards, like Allomantic metals, can be categorized into groups of four, but that isn't something inherent about the Shattering. Instead, these groupings are more what a scholar (like Khriss) would assign afterwards. Commenting on the "opposites" idea. Using the Allomantic metals as an example, metals like iron and steel form a perfectly opposing pair (Pushing and Pulling on the same anchor will have a net zero effect), while its hard to see how tin and pewter are "opposites" (one enhances senses, the other physical strength). So analogously, some Shards, like Ruin and Preservation, are complete opposites, while others may only be "opposites" in the way that tin and pewter are. On that note, I found an interesting tidbit in Arcanum Unbounded. In Khriss's article on the Selish System, she says: Dominion and Devotion are opposites.